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Applications of Flow in Human Development and Education

The Collected Works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  • Book
  • © 2014

Overview

  • Demonstrates that schools can indeed provide autotelic experiences
  • Is evidence that flow and positive psychology can influence how young people are being taught
  • Inspires readers to ponder what it means to be alive and really live
  • Clearly shows, in content and tone, the enjoyment that the pursuit of empirical research provides
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (24 chapters)

  1. Theoretical Contributions

  2. Emperical Studies

Keywords

About this book

The third volume of the collected works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi covers his work on the application of flow in areas that go beyond the field of leisure where the concept was first applied. Based on his personal experience with schooling and learning, as well as that of many others and contrary to what Cicero claimed, Csikszentmihalyi arrived at the conclusion that instead of taking pride in making the roots of knowledge as bitter as possible, we should try to make them sweeter. Just as flow became a popular and useful concept in voluntary activities, it could likewise be applied in education with the end result of young people being more likely to continue learning not just because they have to but because they want to.

This volume brings together a number of articles in which Csikszentmihalyi develops ideas about how to make education and more generally the process of learning to live a good life, more enjoyable. Since theory is the mother of good practice, the first eleven chapters are devoted to theoretical reflections. Some are general and explore what it means to be a human being, what it means to be a person, when we look at life from the perspective of flow. Others are more narrowly focused on such topics as consumption, education, teaching and learning. They help laypeople reflect how they can arrange their lives in such a way as to leave a small ecological footprint while getting the most enjoyment. The second section of the volume contains a dozen empirical articles on similar topics. They deal with the development of identity and self-worth; with the formation of goals and motivation; with loneliness and family life.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, USA

    Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

About the author

A Hungarian psychology professor, who emigrated to the United States at the age of 22. Now at Claremont Graduate University, he is the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake Forest College. He is noted for both his work in the study of happiness and creativity and also for his notoriously difficult name, in terms of pronunciation for non-native speakers of the Hungarian language, but is best known as the architect of the notion of flow and for his years of research and writing on the topic. He is the author of many books and over 120 articles or book chapters. Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association, described Csikszentmihalyi as the world's leading researcher on positive psychology. Csikszentmihalyi once said "Repression is not the way to virtue. When people restrain themselves out of fear, their lives are by necessity diminished. Only through freely chosen discipline can life be enjoyed and still kept within the bounds of reason." His works are influential and are widely cited.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Applications of Flow in Human Development and Education

  • Book Subtitle: The Collected Works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  • Authors: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9094-9

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science, Behavioral Science and Psychology (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-94-017-9093-2Published: 21 August 2014

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-017-7859-6Published: 10 September 2016

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-017-9094-9Published: 08 August 2014

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXII, 494

  • Number of Illustrations: 31 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Positive Psychology, Quality of Life Research, Educational Psychology

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